MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. The number of foreign mercenaries taking part in the conflict in Ukraine has been growing in recent months, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, said on the Rossiya-24 news channel on Friday.

"We have been repeatedly saying at all meetings [in Vienna] in the past few months, that more and more mercenaries are arriving, identifying the countries they come from, including in the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Kherson directions. Most of them are Britons, Poles, Americans, some are even from Georgia," the diplomat said.

"At a certain point their flow decreased, but now it is growing once again," Gavrilov noted. "NATO and Western countries, of course, deny this at the meetings," he went on to say. "Nevertheless, this does not change the fact. By actually supplying weapons, NATO is gradually getting involved [in the conflict in Ukraine]," the diplomat said, noting that the mercenaries go to Ukraine voluntarily, but also illegally under the laws of many countries. "We warn that this is very dangerous. NATO is becoming a party to the conflict," the diplomat stressed.